The Golden Age
by masamunable
Summary: Aang has a vision for the broken world. There will be peace, there will be prosperity, there will be no more casualties along the way, and they will all be very, very happy. One-shot "What If?" fic; just a little dark.


It starts a few years after Ozai's defeat.

Aang finds himself looking into the face of a monster. A man who had been pillaging the Fire Colonies, had done unspeakable things to innocent people. His eyes show no remorse, and indeed, he feels none. The fire nation took everything, and he will take it back. He smirks, knowing that even if the Avatar were to kill him, it would only incite greater violence. Nothing would please him more.

An idea comes to the Avatar, as simple as it is easy.

* * *

"And so, I renounce my deeds. I have been too tied to the fires and hatred of the past; too long have I dwelt in my own suffering. I encourage all who had admired me to do the same! We must come together. We must accept peace at last!"

After his speech, he comes over to the firelord and gives him a deep, humble bow. There is no trace of deception, no hint of the ugly rage that had driven him for years. In fact, when he stands tall, the look in his eyes is cheerful, almost . . . innocent.

Zuko recognises this look, and wonders what it means to see it on the wrong man's face.

* * *

Sokka is unconvinced.

Aang smiles, knowing that when he explains it to him he will come to agree. "It's like Katara. If you could see she was unhappy, that the way she was living was making her unhappy, wouldn't you try to change it? Even if it was against her will."

Sokka gives Aang a dark look. "Have you . . .?"

Aang eyes widen. "No! It's just an example. I want to set up an organisation that can do what I do. I'll teach them how to mind-bend; and then they can use it to take people who are unhappy and change the way they think. Fix them." He smiles. "No more executions, Sokka- and after it's done, they'll even be a gift to society!"

The water tribe boy considers what Aang is saying. It could be justifiable, if it were only those who would otherwise die. But giving that power to others, surely there's too great a risk to it? "How will you know you can trust the people in this organisation, Aang?"

The Avatar's smiles with pride- this is the best part. "Because the people in the organisation will be the people I've already fixed! That way I'll know for sure they won't want to abuse their power. They'll just want to fix people too. Like a big brother."

* * *

He visits her in her cell. She is lank, wasted through immobility, but her eyes when they meet his are full of fire.; more so even than before her fall. He becomes more sure of himself; this is certainly for the best.

His smile turns benevolent. "I've come to free you. I think you've been here long enough."

She laughs at this. It is a harsh, unpleasant sound, with a shrill note of insanity to it. "Do you, avatar? Well, unlock these shackles then, and we shall see if I have learned my lesson."

"It's not that kind of freedom, Azula." He sits down so they are eye to eye. He has gotten taller, his face is longer and leaner, but there is still such childishness in him. Azula can see it, like she has always seen the hearts of those around her. His purity is an affront to her; it goes against everything she believes to find there is someone with no secret darkness to him. He is a blank canvas, one she longs to stain.

The hatred in her eyes almost gleams golden in the darkness. "Then I'm afraid I'm not interested. The only freedom I want is the freedom to take what is mine, and destroy everything that stands in my way. If I cannot burn the world, then I want no part of it. So leave me be."

He leans closer. "But you don't have to want that. I can make you happy, Azula. I can free you from this prison, and the one in your mind. I won't even have to take your firebending away; I'll be able to trust that you won't use it to hurt anyone." His eyes brim with promise.

"Because you won't want to."

Her eyes widen. Surely, he cannot mean what she thinks he means with such an innocent smile on his face. A part of her wants to laugh. So this is purity, she wonders; a smirk twisting her face. They look each other in the eye in silence for some moments, only she understanding the symbolism. They might have seemed a mirror image, she thought, if the world could see as she did. One child who had once pulled the wings from Dragonflies and laughed as they struggled uselessly on the ground, another who would put them in a glass jar and think himself doing them a favour.

"But they can't fly either way, you know." Aang's smile doesn't drop, but it does take on a confused tilt. What on earth did she mean by that?

She gathers heat in her hands and prepares herself for a great deal of pain. She had been hoping to do this in a way that would not require her to burn her arms; had been hoping to escape, but it seems that her time has run out at last. She is in no condition to fight the avatar.

As she does, she regards the boy in front of her. "If you intend to reach inside me and change the very nature of who I am, how is it any different than if you had killed me outright?"

He smiles at her, amused by her cynicism. "You'll still be you! You'll just be happy."

She leans back against the wall, partly to put some distance between her and this terrifying child, and partly to obscure the glow of her shackles as they melt, running in burning rivulets down her arms and dripping to the floor with a faint hiss. Her face remains passive, but she does not have long till the smell of her flesh burning alerts him to what she is doing. "I have no wish to be happy. I am a monster, happiness is not what I seek."

Aang feels a great pity well up in his heart. To think, living like this her whole life . . . well, her suffering would soon be over. He begins to move his hands, one to her heart, one to her head; but is brought short. Is that a burning smell?

Azula grins a savage, rictus grin. Her face now so thin and sallow that all those teeth seem huge in the cell's half light.

"Tell me, Avatar. Have you ever heard of the Agni Takai?"

Suddenly her arms are in front of her, raw and pulpy about the wrists, hands charred almost beyond recognition. Still, she twists them in to the traditional fire nation bow. Her back is straight, her eyes are closed, and from her there is a sudden unbearable heat. He barely has time to jump back, to flee the room as the lines of Chi that run through her body become visible glowing lights- a horrifying parody of his tattoos. Her face is almost serene.

He is just able to shield himself and the guards outside as the room detonates. The Agni Takai, an ancient ritual performed by generals as their enemies howled at the gates. Death before surrender.

It was his first failure. It will be his last.

* * *

Toph was a problem. For her, the freedom to be oneself was the on indelible right of all people, no matter how twisted or evil. She heard of Azula's fate, and could not help but feel sympathy. She might have done the same thing herself.

"I'm not on board with this, twinkletoes. If you can't live how you wanna live even if you are a total bastard, what's the point?"

But his plans had already gained a momentum that could not be stopped, not even by an immovable force such as Toph.

* * *

Aang stood on a platform in front of a ten-thousand strong crowd and smiled. They smiled back, all people of all nations, in complete harmony. He didn't need to say anything; they already knew his mind. They shared it.

He steps down off the platform and returns to his friends. They smile at him as one, too. He joins them in a tight hug.

And there is peace, and there is prosperity, and he is happy- even if Kyoshi sometimes comes to his dreams with a deep, impenetrable sadness etched on to her made up features. But he no longer needs the advisors of his past, when his future is so close, and so bright.

.

* * *

**Author's note**: A plot bunny! One that's been bothering me since the end of the series. I had to get its tiny marshmallow fangs out of my heel before I could move on to other stuff.

Anyways, this was banged out in one morning, and so probably isn't the greatest. Still, I'm glad to get it out of my system, lol. Now I'm going to go eat breakfast. :DD


End file.
